Hair curler

ABSTRACT

A hair curler permanently associated with a spring clip via connection to a spherical member which is located within the interior of the roller freely movable both longitudinally and rotatably. In use, the spring clip may be withdrawn or unclamped from the roller whereupon the spherical member becomes journalled at one end of the roller so that the spring clip is universally positionable and, in particular, movable to a position transverse to the axis of the roller.

United States Patent Bontempi Sept. 16, 1975 [54] HAIR CURLER FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS lmemorl Jules BmtemPi, 46-26 215th 956,347 11957 Germany 132/42 R Bayside, N.Y. 1106i 22 Filed: Sept. 9 1974 PrimaryExaminer-G. E. McNeil] Appl. No.: 504,195

Related US. Application Data Attorney, Agent, or FirmDarby & Darby [57]ABSTRACT A hair curler permanently associated with a spring clip viaconnection to a spherical member which is located within the interior ofthe roller freely movable both longitudinally and rotatably. In use, thespring clip may be withdrawn or unclamped from the roller whereupon thespherical member becomes journalled at one end of the roller so that thespring clip is universally positionable and, in particular, movable toposition transverse to the axis of the roller.

6 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEUSEPISIBYS I "3 905 380 sum 1 0f 2HAIR CURLER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This is a Continuation-in-Partof application Ser. No. 455,046, filed Mar. 27. 1974. This inventionrelates generally to hair curlers and, more particularly, to hairrollers having self-contained spring clips associated with them.

One technique used for many years in the styling of hair comprisesgrasping a strand of hair and winding it onto a hollow, cylindricalroller until the entire strand is wound onto the roller with the latterconsequently assuming a position adjacent to the scalp. At this time aspring clip, commonly referred to as a hobby pin, is urged onto thewound roller, usually between it and the scalp, thereby clamping thewound hair in place on the roller. The hair may then be moistened anddried to impart a curl to the strand of hair.

When the bobby pin and roller are independent of each other, thisprocedure is rather tedious since it is difficult to hold a rollerhaving a strand of hair wound around it in place, locate a bobby pin,locate the proper area of the roller on which to clamp the pin, spreadthe fingers of the pin and, finally, clamp the pin over the roller andhair. Oftentimes, the bobby pin is misplaced during the procedure.

In order to alleviate some of the above problems, attempts have beenmade to couple spring clips to hair rollers. However, the results ofthese attempts have not been entirely satisfactory. A majority ofdevices of this kind involve in their operation a telescoping extensionof the roller in the axial direction of one of various components, suchas concentric sleeves, the bobby pin itself or other like elements (see,for example, US. Pat. Nos. 3,221,753; 3,498,300; and 3,241,561).However, such structure creates a serious problem in that when amultiplicity of rollers are used in close proximity to each other (whichis commonly the case), severe space limitations are created due to thefact that any two adjacent rollers are usually substantially contiguous.Any element which telescopes from the roller and thereby increases thelongitudinal dimension thereof would in all probability interfere withan adjacent roller.

Another disadvantage inherent in some prior art devices is that theirdesigns are such that elements associated with the roller, most commonlythe spring clip itself, overlies the cylindrical surface of the rollerwhile the strand of hair is being wound on it. These obstructions on thesurface of the roller adversely affect the feel and handling thereof.

The prior art roller-spring clip combinations have yet anotherdisadvantage. As mentioned above, after the strand of hair is wound overthe roller, the bobby pin is preferably clamped in a position as closeto the scalp as possible so that there is no play" in the wound roller.Although some of the prior devices provide a clip which may be clampedat any location on the roller, considerable difficulty is oftenencountered in moving the clip to the desired position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, one object of this invention is toprovide a new and improved hair roller having a selfcontained springclip.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a new and improvedhair roller-spring clip assembly wherein the spring clip, when removedfrom clamping relationship with the roller, may be positioned transverseto the axis of the latter.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new andimproved hair roller-spring clip assembly wherein the unclamped pin isuniversally positionable with respect to the roller.

A further object of the instant invention is to provide a new andimproved hair roller-spring clip assembly wherein no obstructions arepresent on the surface of the roller during the winding of a strand ofhair on it.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a new andimproved hair roller-spring clip assembly wherein the spring clip may beclamped onto the wound roller at any desired position in a quick andeasy manner.

Briefly, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention,these and other objects are obtained by retaining a spherical member inthe interior of a hair roller having a hollow, cylindrical shape so thatthe spherical member may move freely in both the longitudinal directionand rotatable. The leading end of a spring clip, such as a bobby pin, ispivotally mounted to the spherical member. When the spring clip isunclamped from the roller, the spherical member is drawn against a stopprovided at one end of the roller so that the spherical member iseffectively journalled at that roller end. This spherieal-type bearingin combination with the pivotal mounting of the spring clip onto thespherical member results in the spring clip being universallypositionable with respect to-the roller. The leading end of the springclip may be moved to any desired location on the roller both quickly andeasily since the spherical member rotates substantially freely withinthe interior of the roller.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A more complete appreciation of theinvention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readilyappreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to thefollowing detailed description when considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the invention and its use inwinding a st and of hair;

FIG. 2 is a side view in section of the invention wherein the springclip is not clamped to the roller;

FIG. 3 is a side view in partial section of the invention wherein theleading end of the spring clip is contiguous with the edge of theroller;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the invention illustrating the springclip clasping the wound strand of hair to the roller;

FIG. 5 is a side view in section of the invention wherein a spring clipis clasping the strand of hair to the roller;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of components of another embodiment of theinvention prior to assembly;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the other embodiment of the inventionwherein the spring clip is not clamped to the roller; and

FIG. 8 is a side view in partial section of the other embodiment of theinvention wherein the spring clip is contiguous with the edge of theroller.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawingswherein like reference characters designate identical'or correspondingparts throughout the several views; and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and2, the roller-spring clip assembly. generally denoted as 10, includes ahollow, cylindrical member or roller 12 made of any suitable .matcrial,such for ex ample as plastic. A multiplicity of openings 14 may be, andare preferably, formed through the cylindrical wall to promote.ventilation and drying of the moistened hair as is readily understood inthe art. A spring clip 16 is coupled to roller 12 by way of a sphericalmember 18 retained within the interior ofroller 12 having a diameterslightly smaller than the inside diameterof the roller so that it isfreely movable therewithin.

The, spring clip 16 resembles a bobby pin andcomprises a U-shaped memberdefined by an inner leg 20 and an opposed, outer leg 22. Sphericalmember. 18

may beformed of any suitable material, such as plastic or wood, and hasa slot 24 preferably formedthrough a major plane i.e. through a planecontaining a diameter of the member, approximately half-way through thespherical member. The slot 24 is slightly wider than the width of thelegs of spring clip 16. A pin 26 extends transversely through slot 24so-that it is eccentric or displaced from the center of the sphericalmember.

Referring to FIG. 2, the leading end 28 of inner leg 20 comprises acurved portion 30, which diverges from a somewhat similarly curvedleading end 32 of outer leg 22, and a ring or eye 34 integrallyconnected to a rearwardly turned portion 36 of leading end 28. The ring34 surrounds and pivots around pin 26 thereby retaining spring clip 16onto spherical member 18. The diameter of ring 34 is substantiallygreater than that of pin 26 so that there is substantial play in theconnection. For purposes which will become clear hereinbelow,.the extentof curvature of curved portion 30 of inner leg 20 is preferablysubstantially equal to the curvature of the surface of spherical member18 as best seen in FIGS.

Zand' 3. a

Thespherical member'l8 is located within the interior of. roller 12 andretained therein by internal annular' ribs 38, 38' formed at each end ofthe roller. Ribs 38, 38' may be integrally formed withthe roller asshown or may comprise separate retaining rings'suitably fixed to theinterior end by an adhesive. To be positioned within the interior ofroller 12 the spherical member 18 is urged against rib 38 until theelements deform sufficiently so that the spherical member isreceivedtherewithin. 1

The operation of the invention will now be described. Referring to FIGS.1 and 2, the end of a strand of hair 40 (which is usually somewhatmoistened) is held against a central portion of the outer surface ofroller 12. The strand is then'wound around the roller by rotating thelatter in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 1. As this is beingdone the spherical member '18 is located at the extreme right-hand endof roller 12 (as seen in FIG. 2) its movement being limited throughcontact with rib 38. When spherical member 18 and rib 38 are incontact,- their interaction is similar to a ballsocket joint in that thespherical member is universally rotatable, being journalled on'thesurface defined by rib 38. During the winding step described above, thespring clip 16 may be grasped as a handle by one hand while the otherhand grasps and rotates the other end of roller 12. Of course, bothhands may be used to turn the roller 12 as shown in FIG. 1 since thespring clip 16 naturally tends to assume the position shown in FIG. 2.

As best seen in FIGSqI and 2, the structure of the roller-spring clipassembly results in the spring clip assuming a position during thewinding step" which is transverse to the axis of the roller. This isadvantageous in that there are-no substantial extensions from the rollerin the longitudinal direction which might interfere with other rollerspreviously secured to the. hair adjacent roller 12. In fact, thatportion of spherical member l8extending from the endof roller 12 shownin FIGS. 1 and 2 may be further withdrawn into the interior of roller 12during the winding operation. Thus, only the spring clip 16 initstransverse position relative to roller 12 will extend from the rollerduring winding and the possibility of interference with an adjacent,previously woundroller is practically non-existant.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, when the entire strand of hair 40 is woundonto roller 12, spring clip 16 is urged into the position shown in FIG.3 wherein the edge of roller 12 is pinched between the diverging ends28, 32 of clip 16. By virtue of the cooperation between spherical member18 and spring clip 16, this step is accomplished with extreme facility.More specifically, as the spring clip 16. is urged towards the positionshown in FIG. 3, the spherical member 18 guides the clip end. preciselyto the desired position. It has been found that if the pin is graspedand a slight outward force exerted on it away from the end of the rollerwhile the clip is being moved into clamping position, the sphericalmember 18 will be retained againstthe rib 3850 that the upper surface ofleading end 28 of inner clip leg 20 isnecessarily .broughtinto initialcontact with the inner I surface of roller 12. The divergence of theleading end 32 of outer leg 22 assures-that the roller wall is wedged orpinched between the leading ends of the opposed legs and it is onlynecessarythat clip 16 be urged in the longitudinal direction as shown inFIG. 4 to secure the wound strand 40 onto the roller. Further, byproviding that clip leg portion '30 and spherical member 18 havesubstantially the same curvature, it is assured that a smooth couplingof the clip to the roller will occur during the clamping step.

It will be realized that it is preferable to position the spring clip asclose to the scalp as possible in order to achieve positive securing ofthe wound roller. The present invention facilitates this desiredlocation of the clip prior to its being clamped over the roller and hairsince the spherical member readily rotates about-the longitudinal axisof roller 12.

Finally, as the spring clip 16 is urged over the hair 40 as shown inFIG. 5, the spherical member 18 assumes the position shown in FIG. 5 andmoves along with the clip longitudinally within the roller 12. 7

Thus, it'is seen that the roller-spring clip assembly de scribed aboveeliminates any problems previously encountered with respect tomisplacing or dropping spring clips such as bobby pins during the hairsetting operation. Since the spherical member is substantially wh'ollycontained within the interior of the roller and the spring clip ispositionable in a direction transverse to the axis ofthe roller, anyproblems associated with interference with adjacent rollers iseliminated. The apparatus may be adapted to any size roller and/orspring clip. The spring clip may be rotated to any position along thecircumference of the roller in order to assure a secure clamp. When notin use, the spring clip and spherical member can be stored within theroller thereby making for a compact unit which is easily packaged.Additionally, the present invention aliminates the necessity of manuallyseparating the legs of the spring clip during the clasping step since itis evident from the above-described operation that by virtue of theaction of the spherical member the edge of the roller will always becomepositioned between the diverging ends of the spring clip.

Referring now to FIGS. 68, another embodiment of the present inventionis shown. For the sake of clarity, elements corresponding to elements ofthe embodiments of FIGS. 1-5 are denoted by the same numeral. butprimed. A spring clip 16 is coupled to roller 12' by way ofa sphericalmember I8 retained within the interior of roller 12 having a diameterslightly smaller than the inside diameter of the roller so that it isfreely movable therewithin.

The only difference between the embodiment of the invention of FIGS. 6-8and that of FIGS. l5 is in the connection of the spring clip 16 to thespherical mem- I ber 18 and the particular construction of the sphericalmember 18. In the second embodiment. spherical member 18' is preferablyformed of two hollow hemispherical or dome-shaped members 50, 52 whichare joined together at their edges, such as by adhesive. Alternatively,the spherical member may be substantially solid and have a hollow cavityformed therewithin adjacent an outer wall thereof. Referring to FIG. 6,one of the hemispherical members 50 has an aperture 54, formed in theouter wall, preferably approximately at its apex. The leading end 28 ofthe inner leg 20' of spring clip 16' extends through aperture 54 and isformed having a curved portion much like leading end 28 of the firstembodiment. However, in liew of the ring or eye 34 in the firstembodiment, a bead 56 of any suitable material. such as plastic, isprovided over the end tip of the leading end 28' which has a largerdiameter than aperture 54 so that it retains the tip of the leading end28' within spherical member 18'.

As is evident, the spring clip 16 is positionable in a directiontransverse to the axis of roller 12' and may be rotated to any positionalong the circumference of the roller in order to assure a secure clamp.Generally, the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 6-8 includesall the advantages of the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-5.Additionally, the second embodiment may be manufactured in even lesstime and for even lower costs than the first embodiment. The use ofahollow spherical element results in a savings of material and it hasbeen found that it is simpler to provide a head 56 in lieu of the eye orring 34 on the spring clip 16. The spherical member 18' is alsosubstantially less costly to manufacture.

Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the presentinvention are possible in light of the above teachings. For example, themember 18 need not be perfectly spherical. but may be somewhat modifiedin shape. Further, the curvature of the leading end of the spring clipneed not be exactly as described so long as diverging portions areprovided. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of theappended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than asspecifically described herein.

What is claimed is:

l. A device for use in curling a strand of hair comprising:

a thin walled hollow cylindrical member over which the strand of hair iswound; and

a clip assembly including a substantially spherical member having aninterior chamber therewithin defining an outer wall of said sphericalmember, said outer wall having an aperture formed therein, and a springclip defined by a pair of resilient opposed legs having integrallyconnected trailing ends, one of said legs having a leading end whichpasses through said aperture and which is located in said interiorchamber, said leading end having an enlarged portion of greaterdimension than said aperture which portion retains said leading endwithin said interior chamber, wherein said spherical member is movablewithin said cylindrical member both rotatably and longitudinally.

2. A device as recited in claim I further including means located on atleast one end of said cylindrical member for limiting the longitudinalmovement of said spherical member.

3. A device as recited in claim 1 wherein said leading end of said oneof the opposed legs has a curved configuration so that the ends of saidclip diverge away from each other in the direction of the free endswhereby movement of said clip into clamping relationship with saidcylinder is facilitated.

4. A device as recited in claim 2 wherein said limiting means include anannular rib formed on the interior surface of at least one end of saidcylindrical member defining a diameter smaller than the diameter of saidspherical member to retain the latter in said cylindrical member.

5. A device as recited in claim 2 wherein said limiting means is locatedsubstantially at the edge of at least one end of said cylindrical memberand contacts said spherical member close to the major circumferencethereof so that a substantial portion of said spherical member extendsoutside of said cylindrical member beyond the leading edge thereof.

6. A device as recited in claim 1 wherein said spherical member isformed by a pair of hollow substantially hemispherical members, saidaperture being formed in the wall of one said hemispherical members, andsaid members being joined together at their edges.

1. A device for use in curling a strand of hair comprising: a thinwalled hollow cylindrical member over which the strand of hair is wound;and a clip assembly including a substantially spherical member having aninterior chamber therewithin defining an outer wall of said sphericalmember, said outer wall having an aperture formed therein, and a springclip defined by a pair of resilient opposed legs having integrallyconnected trailing ends, one of said legs having a leading end whichpasses through said aperture and which is located in said interiorchamber, said leading end having an enlarged portion of greaterdimension than said aperture which portion retains said leading endwithin said interior chamber, wherein said spherical member is movablewithin said cylindrical member both rotatably and longitudinally.
 2. Adevice as recited in claim 1 further including means located on at leastone end of said cylindrical member for limiting the longitudinalmovement of said spherical member.
 3. A device as recited in claim 1wherein said leading end of said one of the opposed legs has a curvedconfiguration so that the ends of said clip diverge away from each otherin the direction of the free ends whereby movement of said clip intoclamping relationship with said cylinder is facilitated.
 4. A device asrecited in claim 2 wherein said limiting means include an annular ribformed on the interior surface of at least one end of said cylindricalmember defining a diameter smaller than the diameter of said sphericalmember to retain the latter in said cylindrical member.
 5. A device asrecited in claim 2 wherein said limiting means is located substantiallyat the edge of at least one end of said cylindrical member and contactssaid spherical member close to the major circumference thereof so that asubstantial portion of said spherical member extends outside of saidcylindrical member beyond the leading edge thereof.
 6. A device asrecited in claim 1 wherein said spherical member is formed by a paIr ofhollow substantially hemispherical members, said aperture being formedin the wall of one said hemispherical members, and said members beingjoined together at their edges.